Does anyone have any information on the Marathon Pen Company of New York City?

Any information would be appreciated.

philm

Do you have any of these pens? If you do, show us some pictures.

George.

:ph34r:

George,

I have one - and two pics are below - on the body is written
REG U.S. Marathon PAT OFF
Fountain Pen Co. of New York U.S.A."

On the clip is written "Marathon" with an M in cursive (logo)

The cap has a gold band that says " 1/20 18KT

The nib says "Marathon" 14K

The lever has " Marathon" with the Cursive M as on the clip

Looks very similar to the 1920s Waterman 52 rhr

George,

By the way, sorry for the poor quality photos - not much of a set up here. Any help any one can provide will be greatly appreciated.

Phil

George,
I'm sure some of the more experienced folks will give you better advice, but here's my $0.01.

I don't have much of a set up either - just a Kodak DX3600 2.2 mp camera. I've found that you can't get too close, or you get inside the camera lens' minimum focus distance - it varies somewhat. I put down a couple of sheets of bright white paper, turn on the overhead and a desk lamp, and then take the pic. After loading the photos onto the pc, I then crop them. I've found that this goes quite a ways to improving the pics without having great equip. At the very least it lets you get a larger image of the pen / nib / etc. so that what you want seen can be. Sure, it's not as good as the high tech equip, but it gets the job done with what's on hand without spending $.

I've only done it a couple of times, but I was pleased with the results (maybe others weren't???). Here's a link to the photos of my Rotring Initial Matte Black:

Rotring Initial Review

Hope this helps,
southpaw

Thanks Southpaw,

I have noted and will try this next time. What I was hoping for was information on the Marathon Pen Company. My last post was misleading, though I really appreciate your help on the photo shooting - I will do this and am sure it will help.

Thanks again

Does the cursive M look like that of Morton pens?
See http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...p?showtopic=686

It does - do you think that Marathon could have been part of Wahl back in the 20s?

I do not know anything about a connection with Wahl.
But I know that there is a connection with Morrison.
I am still in the process of digesting some information that I have been collecting. Hopefully at some point I will be able to write up something cohesive and semidocumented

Thanks for the information. I look forward to the information or tie in to Morrison. I have also been trying to put something together on Morrison. Up until your comment on Morrison, I had no idea. My only clue was the similarity of this pen to the Waterman 52 rhr (at least in design, not materials). The reason I mention Wahl is this which someone sent me today

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...me=STRK:MEWA:IT

It mentions Wahl as Marathon as part of Wahl

The plot thickens?

I think we mean Morton instead of Morrison in our last two post, correct?

OK, I meant Morton for which I have evidence that was at some point made by Morrison. I have a later Morton pen with the same engraving as my older ones that is marked made by Morrison company, and it has the same filler mechanism that the Patriot pens have.

I have no clue about any Wahl connection. One comment on ebay does not mean much.

Thank you so much for this information...I will keep looking and maybe others will chime in. Have a great Sunday.

Phil

As promised. I am following up on the origin of the n-tier Morton pens that I have been obsessed with for a while.

So here is my latest find. The "caligraphy" of Morton is the same with the older ones, and the pen which appears to be uninked by the way has the typical Morrison early piston filler.

Thanks,

I can thus assume that Marathon was made by Morrison as it's "logo" is identical to the Morton "logo" M that you posted. Interesting company. Morrison, Morton, Marathon...

Philm

If you ever get tired of the Marathon let me know

I plan on getting tired "in" a marathon (Duluth MN 6-18-05) but not of the Marathon. If I do you will be the first contacted. Interesting copy of the waterman 52. I just replaced the sac and it writes well.

I really enjoy the posts in this pen history forum. Definitely my favorite aspect of the hobby.

phil

Phil, you probably have seen this?
Nice plastic, and over $400 and going! Wow

Actually, I am not picking up a link on your post...could you try again? I am not familiar with the pen you are referring to ( and it's out of my price range...)

Thanks,

Philm

Sorry - I need some coffee :

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Marathon-overs...1QQcmdZViewItem


WOW $700

Thanks for the heads up on that one. Not sure how I missed it, but I have been traveling a lot lately. I have never seen one of these before. Reminds me a little of the Chilton Halloween pen. I also and surprised by the rounded ends of the cap and body. Most of the Morrison / Morton / Marathon large pens I have or have seen, have sharp ends. I never thought I would see a Marathon go for $700.00....

A small tidbit of information, not sure that it adds a lot to the equation, but in February of 1933 Bankruptcy proceedings were filed against North American Novelty and Premium Corp. by Marathon Fountain Pen Company, Inc. among other parties. So Marathon was most likely incorporated as a separate company.

John

Thanks John,

I had completely forgotten about this thread. Why does North American Novelty sound familiar. Did you discuss them in another thread regarding Evans, or Welty? Or did someone else. Or am I imagining things again?

Anyway, thank you for this interesting piece of the puzzle.

Phil

Phil,

United Novelty Corporation was a supplier to Welty - completely unrelated as far as I can tell. There were a lot of companies with names like that.

John

Thanks, I knew I had heard the "Novelty" name in conjunction with supply side to Welty. I was at work and don't have access to notes there. Your research is great - Thanks.

Phil

Phil,

Here are a couple of other Marathon tidbits I ran across.

The first is a classified ad that ran in the New York Times on May 15, 1927, p W8,
“Salesman wanted to carry a complete line of popular-priced fountain pens; can also be carried as a side-line. Big commission; call 9 to 12 daily. Marathon Fountain Pen Co. 32 Union Street.”

Then, on April 20, 1933, under the heading of “Assignments – In New York County” on page 26 of the NY Times, was a brief entry:
“Marathon Fountain Pen Co. Inc. at 32 Union Square, to Isidore Ginsberg 74-05 Broadway, Jackson Hights”

So they were at 32 Union Square at least from 1927 – 1933.

Incidentally, on the same page, a few lines down, we find:
“Townsend Pen Co. Inc. at 38 E 29th St. to Louis Morowitz, 15 Maiden Lane.”
No idea if it’s the same as the Midwest Townsend, but it sure is an interesting bit.

John